my 4runner is too damn reliable
- Thread starter Gecko123
- Start date
haha, I feel your pain!
sonerick
New member
My 4Runner is pretty reliable, but it's had its fair share of repairs despite being taken care of pretty well. Off the top of my head:
Front wheel bearings
Water pump (twice)
Idler pulleys
Axle seal on the front diff
Frozen calipers (fronts twice, rears once)
Rumble strip issue, somewhat fixed by fluid exchange but still present.
And that's not to mention the all the belts, pads, and rotors ruined by leaking water pumps, frozen calipers, etc. I mean, it is an 8+ year old vehicle and I bought it used, so I can understand a few of the issues happening. But others are just pure design flaws, particularly the brake calipers, which seem to seize up even with regular fluid changes.
In all, it really hasn't been any more reliable than my old '99 Jeep Cherokee. I abused that thing and had to make similar repairs (wheel bearings, ball joints, etc.). I feel like if I put the 4Runner through the same torture as my old Jeep, the list above would be a lot longer.
Front wheel bearings
Water pump (twice)
Idler pulleys
Axle seal on the front diff
Frozen calipers (fronts twice, rears once)
Rumble strip issue, somewhat fixed by fluid exchange but still present.
And that's not to mention the all the belts, pads, and rotors ruined by leaking water pumps, frozen calipers, etc. I mean, it is an 8+ year old vehicle and I bought it used, so I can understand a few of the issues happening. But others are just pure design flaws, particularly the brake calipers, which seem to seize up even with regular fluid changes.
In all, it really hasn't been any more reliable than my old '99 Jeep Cherokee. I abused that thing and had to make similar repairs (wheel bearings, ball joints, etc.). I feel like if I put the 4Runner through the same torture as my old Jeep, the list above would be a lot longer.
emelianenkov
New member
Mine are rusty as hell
Replace with a set of short tube headers with ceramic coating from URD. Only about $400
BlackWorksInc
New member
Like I said WXMan, I am honestly surprised by the amount of major issues on your 4Runner and its not as normal as you make it sound.
Without going into the whole, fraction of a fraction of a cross section thing again, one problematic truck does not an unreliable brand make. Just as one reliable POS does not make a brand reliable.
I have been working on used cars for a while and I see a collection of vehicles ranging in years, mileage, condition, makes, models, and such. I would have to say that provides me a very broad and very large amount of data I have the opportunity to look at. What I see consistently is the poor quality of parts, reliability, and over all quality of various vehicles and their brands.
I rarely see a BMW or Chrysler that doesn't have at least 2 or 3 major issues with it (meaning it costs above $400 to fix,) in fact EVERY BMW we get at our dealership (I swear we're a Toyota Dealer, though you wouldn't know by all the BMWs all over the place...) has issues that cost at least $400 or more to fix. I've had 2 '08+ 338i need new turbos & engines at less than 40k, I have NEVER had a '03+ 7 series pass our inspection and NOT be wholesaled due to a plethora of problems. Minis and BMWs with the GDI engines with leaking/cracked injectors, VANOS problems, massive oil leak or burning problems, not to mention the ridiculous issues with their "PCV" systems, and of course their power steering systems leak like they're designed that way.
Landrovers and Jaguars are just leaky sieves plain and simple, I have had dealership techs tell me "everyone we have leaks." Hell Topgear USA took a 2013 Range Rover to Mammoth Mountain and the roof leaked through the dome light and the suspension system freaked out on them! The BMW sourced engines for the LRs are problematic and their suspension systems leak and fail regularly. The Jaguars have similar issues to other European vehicles I mention.
Chryslers aren't much better, every Dodge truck I get the dash crumbles to the touch, HVAC issues like crazy, engine problems. The Town and Countries are often a mess, pick a year. The PT Cruisers are just garbage, had one with 20k need a new Cam Sensor and some other stuff. The Jeeps don't do too well either. The Liberties all have rear window issues, I've had to do 2 V6's with sticking valves, the interiors don't hold up too well and some of the Wranglers we got had seen better days mechanically (had one we just could not get the damn trans cable adjusted properly no matter what.) Those 5.7 Hemis are garbage, they are plagued with cylinderhead issues, have one with valve seats falling out of the heads locking up the engine (apparently not as uncommon as you'd think...) not to mention the issues I see on the Charger/300 platform.
GM trucks tend to be pretty stout, but it seems every single V8 has knock sensor problems; no biggie, easy money for me. The instrument clusters go out regularly (often the LED's but had a very dials and gauges get wonky) The air ride suspensions in the Caddies don't hold up too well and the older Cadillac sedans and cross-overs tend to have electrical and engine/trans issues. Their newer stuff has gotten significantly better.
Fords are well Fords, the Rangers are garbage, the Windstars are hit or miss. Their older vehicles aren't that reliable and you can pretty much throw a dart at a problem chart. The newer ones are much better quality and the brand new Taurus and such are great vehicles and we haven't seen a lot of serious problems with them.
VW/Audi are decent, depending on the engine you get. We see nothing but problems with their PCV systems also and the 1.8L Turbo is a ticking timebomb. The turbos seem to fail regularly after about 100k and puke oil into the intercooler via the PCV system and just cause nothing but problems. That 1.8L is a horrible engine... The CV axles tend to tear a lot for some reason and we have issues with the dash LED fading/not working. They also tend to have a lot of faded plastic and gummy buttons and rubber; not anywhere as bad as older Volvo's though. I don't know what they made their keys and everything else, but that stuff turns into this tar like substance that is EVERYWHERE in the car; switches, knobs, buttons, ect ect.
Mercedes is hit or miss, their 4 bangers seem to be problematic. Their smaller V6's have a lot of misfire issues and some of the electronics like the SRS (common issue with a lot of Chrysler, BMW, VW, Mercedes, and Volvos we see) ABS, and Headlight systems cause issues. The older ones seem to have weak master switches as we've been replacing a lot of them with broken driver's buttons, can't answer as to why. We also see a lot of leaks on Mercedes (mostly the cam plugs and valve cover gaskets.)
A lot of the Hondas we get are also hit & miss. All the older vans, CUVs, and some of their sedans burn through transmissions. We've spent so much time diagnosing them that when it trips a code for the OD Clutch Solenoid we are 95~99% the trans is toast. CV axles and fluid leaks (often the V-Tec or valve covers) are common on them as well. Nissans tend to hold up well as long as they don't have CVTs, are convertibles, and are well maintained. Even the older engines seem to be leaky but over all decent quality. Mitsubishi isn't that great, mostly because of their shared parts with Chrysler to be honest. Kia & Hyundais are garbage until about '06/'07 when they did a 180 and honestly will give Toyota and Honda a run for their money.
Oh and Toyota? Biggest issues I see are condition & maintenance items rather than full blown failures. They tend to be trashed inside and out, barely held together with duct tape. We've had a couple with junk trans and motors, mostly from lack of love and proper care than just random failure. The older 1.8L's always need new timing chain tensioners as they leak, valve covers on the 4 cylinders and the V6's are leaky. The higher mileage ones tend to have injector issues as they degrade internally. We've had a couple with toasted cats, and the oddball electrical issue. But for the most part, it came down to how it looked inside and how many little maintenence items piled up. Our newer cars are having some interior trim issues and electrical oddities here and there, but mostly holding up well; but honest the new stuff seems a little too overpriced (5th gen for example and new Corolla, Camry's.)
That's a condensed list of the stuff I have seen on a regular basis working the used car department in my dealership. While accounting for these being a small cross-section of owners (as many tend to privately sell) its still been a large enough cross-section to get an idea of how well these vehicles really hold together.
So when I say that I believe in the quality of Toyota/Lexus/Scion its not because I drink the corporate kool-aid or because I believe Mr. Toyoda's company s****s bricks of solid gold, its because time and time again I see Toyotas with 150, 200, and beyond keep running and have minimal issues. Hell my best friend's '98 Corolla is running off 37psi running compression, has almost 300k with the valves still within spec (never been adjusted) and still is getting 22mpg+ some how!?
I know I bash on BMW and ChryCorp a lot, but honestly with how poorly their vehicles hold up, in my opinion its justified. BMW makes great driving machines, I enjoy test driving the ones that run well; I would never own one because I don't feel like buying into their weekly repair program. Chrysler has done nothing but proven poor quality, poor customer service, and poor business practices time and time again; the last good Chrysler was probably the original Challenger. There is a reason that they never survived the recession and the government sold them off to Fiat, hell even before then Mercedes was trying to drop Chrysler in '07 and NO ONE would bite, not even the then growing VW/Audi Group that was buying brands left and right.
So in the end I believe Toyota is one of the better manufacturers and while they have decontended their vehicles and cheapened up a little and overpriced their product in my opinion; they still manage to be a better vehicle than most offerings.
~End Rant/SoapBox
WXman
New member
Opinions are like yesterdays as they say. Everybody has one. But when I think of all the vehicles I've personally seen in my lifetime with over 500,000 on the odo...almost all of them are Chrysler products. Most are usually Jeeps of various vintages and models...but I do know quite a few guys with over 500K on their Dodge trucks as well. My father currently drives a 2002 Dodge with 320,000 on the clock and adds close to 1,000 a week on it. I have personally only owned Chrysler, Ford, GM, and Toyota. My wife has a MINI (BMW). Out of all of those...my Chrysler products have spent the least amount of time in the shop. My Rams NEVER spent a single day in the shop. I had a couple of issues out of my late model Wranglers. Everything else was flawless. I think the "poor quality" of Chrysler is just internet chatter...just like Mobil 1 oil being gold in a bottle. It's fundamentally unfounded...but since it's on the 'net it must be true.
I bought this Toyota over the Jeep Grand Cherokee simply because I did not like the interior of the GC. I am 6'4" and could not get comfortable in it. The 4R isn't perfect for tall guys either, but it's a lot better. So I bought it instead. I plan to put as many miles as I can on this ride. I hope it lasts me forever. But I did not buy it with the assumption that it's higher quality. I know I can get 500K and beyond out of a Jeep. Still, I like my Toyota...just hope I can keep it going until I get it paid off.
I bought this Toyota over the Jeep Grand Cherokee simply because I did not like the interior of the GC. I am 6'4" and could not get comfortable in it. The 4R isn't perfect for tall guys either, but it's a lot better. So I bought it instead. I plan to put as many miles as I can on this ride. I hope it lasts me forever. But I did not buy it with the assumption that it's higher quality. I know I can get 500K and beyond out of a Jeep. Still, I like my Toyota...just hope I can keep it going until I get it paid off.
TRDCal
New member
:trophy:...Exactly!
They're also like @ssholes, everyone has one and they usually stink.
Clearly you're a Dodge guy (nothing wrong with that...whatever floats your ol'bateau) in a Toyota, I can respect why your not happy because as a Toyota guy I wouldn't be happy in a Durango.
Not sure if you just enjoy rocking the boat or what but nobody here is going to share the same opinions because this is a Toyota forum, maybe you'd get more positive feedback if you posted your feelings in a Dodge forum.
BMeister
Member
Not to add insult to injury but....
Chrysler caves, recalls 2.7 million Jeeps
Chrysler caves, recalls 2.7 million Jeeps
CookieRoe
Senior Member
I had 3 ZJs (1993, 1996 & 1997 grand cherokees) and 1 WJ (2000 grand cherokee). Believe me, your gas tank exploding on impact was the least of your worries with those stupid things.
JB.
New member
Not singling you out, but anecdotes are always subject to statistical sampling problems.
Looking elsewhere for guidance (and ignoring value), it's pretty hard to argue with the indicators of quality contained in the pricing information in the vast resale market.
On an individual basis, that's subject to sampling error too, but everything I've seen consistently points to Toyota quality. In that domain, have you seen otherwise?
Hahaha ..many years ago I hated my GM pickup, when i pulled over for a rest, a small oil leak fire popped up on the extra hot engine from boat towing, I was so mad (again) I backed off and begged it to go up in flames. It went out.. boy was I pizzed!
This 4R is just the best thing! 200k and I'd drive it to Alaska tomorrow!
